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Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

December 23, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 357 pgs.
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Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater is the culmination of everything readers will love about the Shiver series; these characters, flawed as they are, have come a long geographic distance to outrun their problems but instead are faced with the reality that they cannot be run from.  Cole St. Clair, a former famous rocker, has come to Los Angeles to get away from the empty quiet of Minnesota, and as the new star on a reality TV series, he hopes that he’ll find a way to win Isabel Culpeper’s heart and keep her forever by his side.  However, he has forgotten one thing, Isabel is not interested in being an accessory for anyone’s life; she’s a star of her own show, even if it is inside a cold winter not-so-wonderland.

Baby, the producer of the reality TV series, is well aware that Cole is a reformed addict — though she doesn’t know about his baser nature — and she’s ready to make some great TV, even if she has to throw naked women at the fallen rock star. Isabel, however, is made of tougher stuff, or so she thinks. She’s an ice queen, but like ice under pressure, she’s bound to crack.

Stiefvater’s characters may have supernatural problems, but those only really magnify what’s broken inside them emotionally. Feeling abandoned, out of place, unloved — all are deep problems that cannot be ignored, lest they destroy the victim.  Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater is a wonderful addition to the Shiver trilogy, and it will have readers cheering for that reality TV happy ending. But will they get it?

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader. All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she’s tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She’s made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews, Scholastic, young adult fiction Tagged With: ,

Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith (audio)

December 22, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 9 CDs
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Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith, narrated by Susan Lyons, updates Jane Austen’s tale of a young woman in high society who starts meddling in the lives of those around her.  Smith’s Emma Woodhouse is far more brazen in her comments of others, and its clear that when she returns from university that she wants to make her mark by making people happier.  Unfortunately, taking her interior design education and applying it to the relationships of her friends and neighbors is not a good fit.  Lyons does an excellent job with the narration, and she really knew which parts to emphasize.

Unlike her sister, who is happy to meet a man and start a family, Emma doesn’t have a conventional future in mind.  She wants to start her own business in the suburbs, rather than in London, which suits her hypochondriac father well.  He thinks London is a place that will make people ill, but his eldest daughter takes off with her new husband to begin their family there.  Meanwhile, Emma is content to stay in the village and take the summer to assess her options.  Smith follows the original plot pretty well with his rendition, with many of his modern elements woven in well, but some of the main conflicts appear glossed over — beginning and ending swiftly.

One area that is tough to take is Emma’s harsher characterization, which can be attributed to the much harsher and self-absorbed nature of today’s society.  However, how Emma is still given a pass in a modern society where class does not hold as much respect or weight as it once did in Austen’s time is left unexplained.  Smith creates a different backstory for Emma and Mr. Knightly, which works in this modern retelling, but may not win points with Austen’s fan base.  Mr. Woodhouse, however, is treated with a bit more respect than he was in Austen — he’s a little less ludicrous, which was a refreshing change.  The governess, however, seems to be a mouthpiece for the author, steering Emma in the right direction and the relationship between the two seems flat.

Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith, narrated by Susan Lyons, was a mixed bag with modern updates, like including cars and women going to college, but lacking in the obsession with selfies, cellphones, and other technology.  It also was mixed in terms of Smith’s treatment of the characters and the original story.  While Knightly was a guiding force for Emma, here he is relegated to the sidelines and a new character emerges, the governess.

About the Author:

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, challenges, classic fiction, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Piglet Bo Is Not Scared! by Geert De Kockere, illustrated by Tineke Van Hemeldonck

December 18, 2015 by

Source: Sky Pony Press
Hardcover, 32 pgs.
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Piglet Bo Is Not Scared! by Geert De Kockere, illustrated by Tineke Van Hemeldonck, is a cute story about the things we tell ourselves when we feel fear creeping over our shoulders.  In this story, Piglet Bo claims not to be scared of anything or anyone, but as Bo pumps himself up and tries to project fear onto a tiny mouse, readers come to realize that Bo is afraid.  Kockere’s story is a little more wordy than other picture books, but this story is one that demonstrate to young readers that emotion can be not only portraying in illustrations but also through words.

Piglet Bo is the typical child looking for greater independence and refusing to admit the need for help or reassurance, especially when fear is involved.  Bo puffs up at the sign of shadows, making excuses for not going into the dark room or riding the roller coaster, but when Bo wakes up in the forest at night, there is little room for an excuse.  A realization strikes that fear is real and can be overwhelming.

Piglet Bo Is Not Scared! by Geert De Kockere, illustrated by Tineke Van Hemeldonck, is a great book introducing children to fear and how it can be rationalized into other emotions and how excuses do not let them escape the fear but trick their minds.  Younger readers may wonder why Bo is so afraid of a mouse or a roller coaster, but adventures will require courage and fears can come in all sizes and forms.  Kockere’s book enables young readers to see that it is okay to be afraid, and that in some cases, it can be useful.  The illustrations are a little abstract at times, which will require a little explanation for younger readers.

Other Reviews:

Piglet Bo Can Do Anything!

About the Author:

Geert De Kockere studied to become a teacher but instead became a professional journalist. Currently he is the editor of Buitenbeen, a nature magazine for Flanders and the Netherlands. He has written many children’s books, including several collections of poems, and has won a variety of book prizes for his work. He resides in Kempen, Belgium.

About the Illustrator:

Tineke Van Hemeldonck studied graphic design, specializing in illustration, at Provinciale Hogeschool Limburg in Hasselt. She has done all kinds of graphic design work, and this is her first children’s book. She currently resides in Bunsbeek, Belgium.

Filed Under: children's fiction, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond

December 17, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 293 pgs.
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The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond, which was a February book club pick, is a fantastic cookbook for novice cooks and those with a little more experience.  This cookbook not only provides step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow, uses items that are pre-prepared (such as Pillsbury Crescent Rolls), and offers alternative ingredients, but it also tells a story of frontier life and gives step-by-step photos to show what recipes look like throughout the process to ensure that those following along are doing things as close to her instructions as possible.  I found the instructions and pictures of each step very helpful; they kept me on track, which I need with a 4-year-old helping in the kitchen who tends to get me easily distracted and missing steps.

For Thanksgiving week, I made the Peach-Whiskey Chicken using chicken legs, but you can use breasts and other types of pairings and types of chicken.  The directions were easy to follow with the measurements laid out, though the times for cooking in each step were approximate depending on your stove type and some steps could take longer.  We thoroughly enjoyed these messy chicken legs, and while I had a hard time finding peaches — I ended up using frozen peaches — it was good to make something so tasty from scratch.  This was the recipe that took me the longest time to prepare.

For the actual Thanksgiving dinner, I made the Whiskey-Glazed Carrots — are you sensing a theme here? — which was a relatively simple recipe to follow, though it took me a bit to find the skillet I have that has a lid — many of my pans do not have lids.  There’s something I do each Thanksgiving — I make different types of carrots with the hope that I can get Anna‘s daughter to eat them.  She doesn’t like carrots very much.  So far, I’ve gotten 2 okays in the last couple of years.  I’ll take it.  Next year, I’ll find another recipe for carrots.

After the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a day off to do some editing and decided to take a break and make Apple Dumplings using Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.  Cutting the apples was the hardest part because I don’t own an apple corer for some reason, so I had to cut the apples into 8 pieces — no they were not the same size — and core them once I cut the apple.  The rest of the recipe was a breeze, though I didn’t use Mt. Dew as the recipe indicated.  I used the variation of ginger ale, and I think they came out really well.  I don’t often eat ice cream, but I bet these would taste delicious with some vanilla bean ice cream.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond is delightful cookbook, filled with great recipes, anecdotes about frontier life, and advice on alternative recipes and pairings.  This is a cookbook I would recommend to anyone who wants to try something new but wants it kept simple.  I love that there are a variety of meals from spicy to mild, and the desserts in this book look so good just from the pictures.

About the Author:

Ree Drummond began blogging in 2006 and has built an award-winning website, where she shares recipes, showcases her photography, and documents her hilarious transition from city life to ranch wife. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Ree lives on a working cattle ranch near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, with her husband, Ladd; their four kids; their beloved basset hound; and lots of other animals.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, Reference, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (audio)

December 16, 2015 by

Source: Digital Library
Digital audio, 9+ hrs
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Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton, is the third book in this series, and it is such a strong series of books.  Listening to these back to back on audio with the fabulous Will Patton as the narrator has been an immersive experience.  Where a hot room can feel like a jacket closing you in, readers will fall into the world Steifvater has created, wanting to uncover the magic and secrets within the pages quickly, but at the same time struggle not to linger over her images and poetic prose.  Adam and Blue are sent on a journey into the caves with the other Raven Boys, but as they are less sure of their own abilities, they are edging closer to a precipice they may not come back from.

What do you so when your psychic mother disappears, the Greenmantle comes to down to unearth darkness, and the Raven Boys are ever closer to discovering the resting place of a former Welsh king, Glendower?  While things have seen more certain, they are less certain than ever because the ley lines are in disorder, dream thieves are rifling with things they do not fully understand, and others are scrying in the search for guidance.  Time is fluid in this book, and so is what is real and what is not.  Stiefvater has woven a believable world in which readers will be trapped with Blue and the Raven Boys, searching for the unknown and hoping for answers.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton, reveals answers and poses more questions, but readers will never tire of this world and its fantastical elements.  Her characters are nuanced, engaging, twisted and damaged, but they all cling to some form of hope, a hope that things will improve, things will go their way, and that all will be re-aligned as it should be.  However, what they believe it to be, might not be how it ends up when all is said and done.  Stiefvater is a rare talent in the young adult fiction genre.

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader. All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she’s tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She’s made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews, Scholastic, young adult fiction Tagged With: , , ,

The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath by Kimberly Knutsen

December 15, 2015 by

Source: Media Buck Book Publicity
Paperback, 384 pgs.
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The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath by Kimberly Knutsen is an ambitious novel that weaves in elements of Sylvia Plath’s life subtly, and the Lavender family is on the edge of crisis.  Katie is a mother of three whose wild ways secure her in a nuclear family, one that she is ill-equipped to navigate without stumbling.  Wilson is a former addict attempting to finish his PhD, while engaging young students in women’s studies courses.  Much of the novel is a series of flashbacks to Katie’s tormented past and an event that changed her forever, before Katie’s sister arrives on her doorstep to stir up even more trouble.

“Victimized by sex is the human race. Animals, the fortunate lower beasts, go into heat. Then they are through with the thing, while we poor lustful humans, caged by mores, chained by circumstance, writhe and agonize with the appalling and demanding fire licking always at our loins.” – Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Knutsen’s novel seems to explore Plath’s comments about sex and married life as personified in Katie.  She has a husband who is her best friend, but she cannot confide in him about her lustful need to conquer their younger neighbor, Steven.  Meanwhile, Wilson has felt trapped from day one after Katie announced her pregnancy, but like an addict, he dives in head first into the marriage pool.  He wants to give it his all, but even as he does, these strong personalities cannot live in the same space without arguments and other adverse effects.

“There were two worlds when I was a kid.  The Cinderella world, with its fancy light, is the one I miss.  It lasted until I was eight.  Then it disappeared.” (pg. IX)

“There was a second world.  It was the texture of pumice.  It was the taste of metal in my mouth.  It was the stopped heart, the brain that could never catch its breath.  This world eclipsed the Cinderella world, and it visits me still in the night, sliding along the edges of the room, slipping into my mouth to sit in my throat, acrid and black, its tendrils snaking down to hook, but good, my heart.” (pg. X)

Although Wilson is meant to be rewriting Plath’s lost journals — those that went missing or were destroyed as his doctoral dissertation — he finds his hours spent in the office not writing.  Perhaps he has lost faith in his knowledge of women since his marriage to Katie has begun to crack, or perhaps he has come to the conclusion that he is a farce of the genius image he has created throughout his academic career.  Knutsen examines the illusion of a happy marriage, especially between traumatized people.

The people in this world are highly damaged and have lost their moral ground, but rather than fight against the nature they are familiar with to create a new life, a changed life, they step into their old shoes.  The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath by Kimberly Knutsen is about lost souls whose lives are documented only by their relations and themselves.  Some readers may have a tough time reading some of these situations and the language, but overall, Knutsen has captured the darker side of trauma and its long-term effects.

Check out my interview with Knutsen, here.

2015-08-17 05.00.08-3 (1)About the Author:

A native Portlander, Kimberly Knutsen is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has an MA in English from New Mexico State University and a PhD in English from Western Michigan University. She has won many fellowships and awards for her writing and has published short stories in The Hawaii Review and the Cimarron Review. She has written a novel, The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath, and is currently finishing a second novel, Violet.

Kim comes to Portland from Kalamazoo, Michigan where she taught writing and women’s studies at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. She loves working with her students at CU and is continually amazed by their intelligence, creativity, kindness and wisdom.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Runaway Santa: A Christmas Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis, illustrated by Aaron Zenz

December 11, 2015 by

Source: Sky Pony Press
Hardcover, 40 pgs.
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The Runaway Santa: A Christmas Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis, illustrated by Aaron Zenz, is an adorable book about Santa Claus and his desire for a vacation away from the North Pole.  The author teams up with the same illustrator of The Runaway Pumpkin, and the results are very similar, only this time the wife is carefully watching her husband on his adventures instead of the mother watching her pumpkin son.  We’ve read this one a couple of times, and she loves picking out where Mrs. Claus is hiding in the background as Santa talks about his adventures in the mountains and the jungle, among other places.

The drawings are simple line drawn characters that are easily recognized by young readers, and the adventures give young readers an idea of what different locations look like and what equipment or items you might need to pack.  This one also had a lot of my daughter’s sight words that she’s learning in preschool, which was good for her to practice recognizing them outside of her flashcards.  Out favorite parts were when Mrs. Claus rode a Kangaroo and Santa swung through the jungle with the monkeys and rode an elephant.

The Runaway Santa: A Christmas Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis, illustrated by Aaron Zenz, offers advice on how to be prepared for adventures, even though they are supposed to be fun.  It also expresses love and care for loved ones, teaching kids empathy for others and concern about their well-being — allowing them to look outside their selves and their own concerns.  Finally, the story also offers a moment of inclusion, as Santa realizes that his wife thinks the vacation adventure may be a good idea and that he would love for her to come along.

Other Reviews:

The Runaway Pumpkin: A Halloween Adventure Story

Filed Under: children's fiction, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (audio)

December 10, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 11 CDs
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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton, continues the series with the Raven Boys and Blue fighting the dark forces of dreamland.  The ley line has been awakened but the Raven Boys and Gansey continue their search for the dead ancient king Glendower.  As they continue their search, the Gray Man is searching for a mechanism, but even with the help of Blue’s psychic family, he has no idea what he is searching for. The romantic tension is present here, but the book is less about teen romance than about the battle between good and evil and the known versus the unknown.

Meanwhile, the magic of Cabes Water has disappeared or fizzled out, as if a power surge has disrupted its power.  Ronan, who has been the black sheep, has finally found a purpose, and in this volume, he has come into his own, while Adam still seems lost.  Despite the fluid relationships between the Raven Boys and Blue and her family, they have little choice but to push aside their emotions to save the magic of Cabes Water, jumpstart the power of the fading lay line, and keep the evil forces at bay.  Stiefvater’s prose is thrilling, visually arresting, and unforgettable.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton, is a whirlwind of magic that will leave readers wanting more.  Will these boys survive the magic? Can they wield the magic with aplomb and responsibility? Or will they be devoured by the fire that threatens to burn the town and take the magic with it?  This is a series that will have readers begging for more, and they’ll be unable to get these living nightmares out of their head long after the book is closed.

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader. All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she’s tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She’s made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews, Scholastic, young adult fiction Tagged With: , , ,

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (audio)

December 9, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 10 CDs
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Forever by Maggie Stiefvater — narrated by Dan Bittner, Pierce Cravens, Emma Galvin, Jenna Lamia, and Maggie Stiefvater — is stunning in its twists and turns, its big reveals, and its ever-poetic language that takes readers into boundary wood.  In this third book in the Mercy Falls series, Sam and Grace are again separated by circumstances, and even when they can be together, there are things that separate them, leaving each waiting in anticipation for the other — for their connection to be rekindled.  Their connection, however, is so strong that it transcends species and is a testament to love, loyalty, and family.

Sam looks to Grace as his center, and she often helps him overcome his indecision, but when Grace is in danger, he’s forced to make his own choices, forced to grow up into the man he is.  Beck is no longer there as a buffer, and Cole may be older and more focused on saving the pack, but he is not who the wolves will follow.  Sam has to make a sacrifice he didn’t think he could make again, but when he decides to do it, he is all in.  Isabelle and Cole’s budding relationship, meanwhile, is filled with obstacles, including both characters’ personal baggage.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater — narrated by Dan Bittner, Pierce Cravens, Emma Galvin, Jenna Lamia, and Maggie Stiefvater — is part of a highly imaginative series of books about werewolves in Mercy Falls.  These characters are forced to grow up too soon, but even as they want to cling to their childhood freedoms, they know that their lives are forever changed once they make the leap into adulthood.  These characters are bound to make a lasting impression on readers, and Mercy Falls will be missed when it’s over.

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader.  All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she’s tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She’s made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews, Scholastic, young adult fiction Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Night Before Christmas: A Brick Story by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Amanda Brack

December 4, 2015 by

Source: Sky Pony Press
Hardcover, 32 pgs.
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The Night Before Christmas: A Brick Story by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Amanda Brack, follows the traditional story of the clatter on the roof and the calls to the reindeer.  What makes this story different is the use of bricks (also known as Lego pieces) to illustrate the story.  The pieces are well placed and resemble the elements of the story, and the scenes are augmented with felt stockings and other non-brick items.  These elements help provide readers with a more realistic feel.

Our favorite parts of the story were of course the rhyming lines that tell the story, but also the sugarplums dancing in the heads of the children and the flying reindeer.  My daughter and I had a conversation about Santa Claus’ other name, St. Nicholas, and what coursers were and why the word was used in the story.  We’re already having conversations about language usage and choice, though I’m not sure she understands it completely.  One tiny quibble is the fact that the smoke from Santa’s pipe does not look like a wreath above his head as it says in the story, but I’m sure that would be difficult to reproduce.

The Night Before Christmas: A Brick Story by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Amanda Brack, is a cute book for those modern kids familiar with these plastic bricks used to build scenes.  Maybe some readers would take what they saw in the book and create their own Santa and Christmas scenes.

About the Author:

Clement Clarke Moore, (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863), is best known as the credited author of A Visit From St. Nicholas (more commonly known today as Twas the Night Before Christmas). Clement C. Moore was more famous in his own day as a professor of Oriental and Greek literature at Columbia College (now Columbia University) and at General Theological Seminary, who compiled a two volume Hebrew dictionary. He was the only son of Benjamin Moore, a president of Columbia College and bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and his wife Charity Clarke. Clement Clarke Moore was a graduate of Columbia College (1798), where he earned both his B.A. and his M.A.. He was made professor of Biblical learning in the General Theological Seminary in New York (1821), a post that he held until 1850.

Filed Under: challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega Vol. 6 by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez

December 3, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 192 pgs.
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Locke & Key: Alpha and Omega Vol. 6 by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, is where all the dark forces come alive at the same time, and the Locke family is even more distant from one another.  Tyler is trying to forget the darkness and move on, while Bode is still not himself and Kinsey has started to fit in at school and wants to join in.  Their mother has stopped drinking and seems to be more sober in her thinking and parenting, while uncle Duncan is still trying to be a guiding force for the kids who have had to deal with the death of their father and more.  The illustrations continue in the same style in this volume as in most of the other volumes, and bring to life Joe Hill’s story in a way that is both gruesome and terrifying.

The dark lady has all the keys she needs to unleash her demon brethren on the world, but her plans have changed, as she’s seen how powerful family can be.  She wants to create her own, make a family of demons beholden to only her.  Of course, there is still a place for slaves in this new kingdom.  Kinsey, Tyler, and Bode are up against all the darkness behind the black door, and they must outsmart the dark lady if they hope to win.

Locke & Key: Alpha and Omega Vol. 6 by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, is a wonderful conclusion to this series of graphic novels.  The tug of war between good and evil is frightening, especially when readers realize that the fate of goodness is in the hands of teenagers.  Overall, Hill has created a series of graphic novels that will keep readers entertained, horrified, and guessing about whether good will win out.  Rodríguez is a talented artist, and his artistry is on full display in these novels.

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

Joseph Hillstrom King is an American writer of fiction, writing under the pen name of Joe Hill.  Hill is the the second child of authors Stephen King and Tabitha King. His younger brother Owen King is also a writer. He has three children.

Hill’s first book, the limited edition collection 20th Century Ghosts published in 2005 by PS Publishing, showcases fourteen of his short stories and won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, together with the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story for “Best New Horror”. In October 2007, Hill’s mainstream US and UK publishers reprinted 20th Century Ghosts, without the extras published in the 2005 slipcased versions, but including one new story.

About the Illustrator:

Architect, artist and illustrator. He started his career with myth based illustrations for card games, and then jumped into the world of professional comics working with IDW Publishing. In addition to his current work in Locke & Key, his collaborations with IDW include Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show, Beowulf, George Romero’s Land Of The Dead, as well as several CSI comics and some covers for Angel and Transformers.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, fiction, graphic novel, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Locke & Key: Clockworks Vol. 5 by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez

December 2, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 159 pgs.
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Locke & Key: Clockworks Vol. 5 by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, is a whirlwind adventure into the past as the Locke family discovers the timeshift key for the grandfather clock in the house.  This key enables them to go back to 1775 to find out what happened to their ancestors in colonial Massachusetts during the British occupation of Lovecraft, which was not an integral part of the revolution.  The presence of the British in this area signifies a search for an advantage in the war, though it is not really expanded upon.  The Locke children learn the source of the keys and how the demons cam to live in Lovecraft and make their way into the well house.  But there has always been magic here, with or without the discovery of the black door.

The illustration in this volume is consistent with the tale, in which the time shifts to 1775 have a old-world feel compared to the present day.  Hill has a great backstory reveal in this volume, and the Locke kids are up against something that even their father did not fully understand.  There is more death and mayhem in this one, and there is a disturbing image of a possessed goat that left an impression even on me.

Locke & Key: Clockworks Vol. 5 by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, provides a backstory on the ancestors and the Locke children’s father, and it’s good to see that these characters are evolving amid all the horror, death, and mayhem created by the demon and the misuse of the keys.  Even their mother has stopped her destructive behavior, but it is clear that there is more devastation to come.

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

Joseph Hillstrom King is an American writer of fiction, writing under the pen name of Joe Hill.  Hill is the the second child of authors Stephen King and Tabitha King. His younger brother Owen King is also a writer. He has three children.

Hill’s first book, the limited edition collection 20th Century Ghosts published in 2005 by PS Publishing, showcases fourteen of his short stories and won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, together with the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story for “Best New Horror”. In October 2007, Hill’s mainstream US and UK publishers reprinted 20th Century Ghosts, without the extras published in the 2005 slipcased versions, but including one new story.

About the Illustrator:

Architect, artist and illustrator. He started his career with myth based illustrations for card games, and then jumped into the world of professional comics working with IDW Publishing. In addition to his current work in Locke & Key, his collaborations with IDW include Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show, Beowulf, George Romero’s Land Of The Dead, as well as several CSI comics and some covers for Angel and Transformers.

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